


Lessons in Power and Poetry

by prairiecrow



Series: Lessons in Humanity [22]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (2012)
Genre: A.I. to Human, Angel fic, BDSM, Bondage, Established Relationship, John Milton - Freeform, M/M, Paradise Lost, Threesome - M/M/M, Transformation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-23
Updated: 2013-06-23
Packaged: 2017-12-15 22:10:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/854557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prairiecrow/pseuds/prairiecrow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Steve and Tony have a disagreement concerning what, exactly, it is and is not appropriate to do with (or to) an angelic being.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lessons in Power and Poetry

_He lights, and to his proper shape returns_  
 _A Seraph winged: Six wings he wore, to shade_  
 _His lineaments divine; the pair that clad_  
 _Each shoulder broad, came mantling o'er his breast_  
 _With regal ornament; the middle pair_  
 _Girt like a starry zone his waist, and round_  
 _Skirted his loins and thighs with downy gold_  
 _And colours dipt in Heaven; the third his feet_  
 _Shadowed from either heel with feathered mail,_  
 _Sky-tinctured grain. Like Maia's son he stood,_  
 _And shook his plumes, that heavenly fragrance filled_  
 _The circuit wide…_  

Jarvis, currently composed almost entirely of something analogous to human physical substance, was curled up in a patch of winter sunshine on the living room couch in Tony Stark's luxurious penthouse with a well-worn leather-bound copy of _Paradise Lost_ in his lap. He had, of course, instant access to all digital copies of the document worldwide, and the ability to comprehend their entire contents both simultaneously and instantaneously, but there was an undeniable pleasure in savouring each word individually while sipping a china cup of sweet tea and nibbling on Artisan Ginger  & Lemon cookies, and an ineffable comfort in being deliberately limited within his skin, like being securely wrapped in a comfortable and familiar blanket. 

Which didn't mean that he was utterly oblivious to his environment. His senses were now extremely acute, and he could hear Tony moving around in the bedroom while Steve towelled off in the bathroom after a quick shower. There was a quality to his creator's movements that he knew well: Tony was annoyed, and getting more frustrated by the second, but Jarvis also knew better than to offer assistance at this point in time. When Tony wanted help — and more importantly, when he was ready to accept it — he'd ask for it in no uncertain terms. 

"Steve?" Tony had been digging around in the drawers of the big bedroom dresser for the two minutes and thirteen seconds, and now took advantage of his other husband's exiting the bathroom to pose a distracted question: "Where the hell did we put the cuffs after the last session?" 

The brisk pace of Steve's bare footfalls came to an immediate halt. "The cuffs?" he queried, full of wariness. 

"The cuffs," Tony repeated impatiently, and pulled out an entire layer of folded pajamas to dump them on the carpet. "You know — red leather, silver rings, look best when Jarvis is wearing them? I could have sworn we left them in the —" 

"Tony," Steve interjected, and he sounded horrified, "are you nuts? We can't use — _those_ — anymore!" 

Which gave Tony pause. Jarvis could clearly picture the sharp gaze he was directing at Steve, who was currently wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. "Huh. Always thought you got off on —" 

"Tony," Steve insisted, sounding a little less appalled but no less alarmed, "we _can't_ — I mean, you don't —" 

"Why the hell not?" He moved on to the next drawer, digging relentlessly. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but suspending his wrists from the ceiling while you used your belt on his ass went over pretty well with everybody concerned." 

"Well —" He sounded as if he was choking. "Yes, but —" 

"But, what? Look, do you know where the cuffs are, or —?" 

Steve's voice fell to an urgent whisper: "He's an _angel_ , Tony! You don't go around doing — that — to…"  

Tony paused, and Jarvis, still engrossed in reading Book V of Milton's classic, 

 _Eastward among those trees, what glorious shape_  
 _Comes this way moving; seems another morn_  
 _Risen on mid-noon_ … 

knew that they were staring at each other across the bedroom, a battle of wills playing out in their gazes. "Wait, are you actually telling me that you don't intend to have sex with him _ever again?_ " 

An even lower hiss: "Keep your voice down!" 

"He can hear us just fine no matter what we do — and that doesn't answer my question." 

A pause, followed by a stern inflection: "He deserves so much better than that now, and you know it too." 

"Better than — Oh, for the love of —!" Tony deliberately raised his voice: "Hey, Jarvis?" 

Jarvis responded at once, firmly but politely: "Sir?" 

"You heard all that, right?" 

"Every word."

"So, tell us — are you an Angel of the Lord, or the Lady, or the Great Cosmic Muffin, or any other Power or Principality that Stevie here would recognize and be inclined to put you on a pedestal for?" 

Jarvis permitted himself a slight smile, because of course they couldn't see him either. "Not to my knowledge, Sir." 

"So, just so we're all clear on the point," Tony continued loudly, "you wouldn't object to being strung up and spanked and whipped and then fucked senseless, by both of us or either of us?" 

"On the contrary," Jarvis responded, this time letting the smile warm his voice unequivocally, "I believe I'd enjoy it immensely." 

"There," Tony concluded, a crow of triumph in Steve's direction, "straight from the physically manifested quantum wavefunction's mouth! Satisfied?" 

Steve was frowning intensely enough for the effect to be almost audible. "I'm still not sure it's —" 

"Do I really have to give you the 'consent is everything' lecture all over again, Old Man?" Tony chided — but he was smirking. "Because I will, and I'm pretty sure Jarvis would be happy to provide lots of diagrams to go along with it." 

 _But I will haste, and from each bough and brake,_  
 _Each plant and juiciest gourd, will pluck such choice_  
 _To entertain our Angel-guest, as he_  
 _Beholding shall confess, that here on Earth_  
 _God hath dispensed his bounties as in Heaven…_  

"Or," Jarvis remarked in their general direction as he shifted the book's ribbon bookmark to the current page, "we could engage in a more practical demonstration, if you wish…?" 

"That's my boy!" Tony grinned. "So, Steve — the cuffs? Any ideas?" 

A pause, full of brief internal struggle. A sigh that was eloquent of doubts still to be banished. "Top shelf of the closet, at the back, in the black shoebox." 

"J?" Tony commanded cheerfully, and Jarvis closed the book and set it neatly aside, sneaking in a final sip of his tea. After all, there was certainly more than one way to pass an afternoon pleasantly when one was determined to indulge in the delights of flesh and blood. 

THE END

 


End file.
